Philly pressure? Bring it on, says Phils' Papelbon (With Video)

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- For nearly half an hour, the emotion-packed words were thrown at him.

Responsibility. Pressure. Intensity.

Jonathan Papelbon may temporarily be a stranger in a strange land, getting used to a new shade of red, a new city, new teammates and new coaches. But having pitched the first 6½ seasons of his big-league career in arguably the most baseball-crazed city in America, Papelbon is no stranger to the humongous expectations of his sport.

Ilya Bryzgalov he is not.

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Three months after signing a $50 million contract to leave his comfort spot as the Boston Red Sox closer to fulfill the same role for the Phillies, Papelbon sat in the media lunch room at Bright House Field Saturday in Clearwater, Fla. He met each challenging question with the attitude that has served him well on the mound.

On the day pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater, Papelbon was at ease under the spotlight and answered each query with a seemingly unshakeable confidence.

"I like pressure. That's what makes me tick, man," Papelbon said of moving from one World Series-or-bust team to another. "I'm excited. Pitching in this environment is an environment that I enjoy. I don't think any town or any city, whether it's Boston or Philadelphia, I don't think it's going to put any more pressure on (players) to go out and have the best season that they can have as a personal player than any fan or city will do. Big-league baseball players expect a lot out of themselves and I don't think they're going to expect anything more than any town or city will."

Coming off an offseason in which closers were aplenty on the free-agent market -- and many had to settle for well below top dollar in a team-friendly climate -- the Phillies plopped down the richest contract in baseball history for a relief pitcher when they signed Papelbon. The closer they let go, Ryan Madson, got just $8.5 million guaranteed from the Cincinnati Reds --- or $41.5 million less than Papelbon.

But with a team built to win led by rotation of aces, the price the Phillies placed on what Papelbon brings to the clubhouse and the field began to show in the new closer's spring training introductory press conference.

"It doesn't mean anything to me; it's not like a personal goal of mine to be the highest paid closer," said Papelbon, who's four-year, $50 million deal is $3 million more than the five years and $47 million Toronto doled out to B.J. Ryan in 2006. "That's not what I'm worried about. But for me, I do take a lot of pride in (that fact) that this is a role that is relatively new. It's now starting to get recognized as an important role, and how important it is in baseball. Mariano (Rivera), I think he's the one who set the bar and started making everybody realize how important it is. I'm just trying to continue that on, to do my part, and it has nothing to do with any monetary value."

But as with any colossal contract holder, Papelbon won't be able to escape the microscope that will follow him unless he exceeds the expectations.

The Madson-for-Papelbon decision, and most notably the enormous exchange rate on that transaction, isn't likely to disappear for Papelbon or general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. until the 2012 season plays out. If it ends with a parade down Broad Street and Papelbon putting together anything like Brad Lidge circa 2008, perhaps the new closer's Phillies career will take on the happily-ever-after vibe.

Thankfully for Phillies fans, who already began to flock down to the Carpenter Complex on the eve of the team's first workout, Jonathan Papelbon doesn't concern himself with any of the aforementioned issues.

"I'm just going to go out there and do my thing," Papelbon said. "That's it."

The 31-year-old four-time All-Star reached the lowest point in his career when he last took the mound. Sept. 28 in Baltimore, armed with a one-run lead, Papelbon struck out the first two batters of the ninth inning before allowing three hits in row, the last one bringing in the game-winning run in the final game of the 2011 regular season.

The blown save capped a heinous 7-20 final month for the Red Sox and paved the way for the Tampa Bay Rays to steal the wild card from Boston less than an hour later.

Papelbon wore an emotionless face as he walked through the visiting dugout and into the clubhouse at Oriole Park at Camden Yards that night. A reborn Papelbon almost laughed off that moment when reminded about it Saturday.

"Every day. All day," Papelbon said, with a straight face, when asked how often he thought about the final moments of his 2011 season this winter. "I mean, I don't think about it at all, man. It's something that, when I was a rookie and I made my first All-Star Game, I had to talk with (Mariano Rivera) about the biggest thing that's going to make me successful in this game. His first answer was a short-term memory. You've got to be able to learn from them still and learn from those situations. But I don't sit there and think about it all spring. You go over things and try to learn from them, but you've got to be able to turn the page.

"For me, getting into a new clubhouse, meeting new guys, new teammates, putting my years in Boston behind me, and starting a new chapter in my career is one of the more exciting things I've been able to do to this point. I think this year more than any other year I've been more excited to get into the clubhouse than any spring training."